Iwan to head tsunami inquiry
Craig Comartin,
president-elect of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI),
announced on January 17 the appointment of Professor Wilfred D. Iwan to
coordinate the massive tsunami and earthquake investigation being carried
out by EERI as part of its Learning From Earthquakes program.
Iwan, professor
of applied mechanics, emeritus, and director of the Earthquake Engineering
Research Laboratory at Caltech, is a member of the National Academy of
Engineering. He served for many years as chairman of the California Seismic
Safety Commission and the National Research Council’s Board on Natural
Disasters. He has chaired scientific committees of the International Association
of Earthquake Engineering and the International Association for Seismology
and Physics of the Earth’s Interior.
“In
addition to Bill’s internationally recognized credentials as a researcher,
he brings to this unprecedented investigation critical organizational
skills and numerous contacts throughout the devastated region,”
Comartin said.
Currently
more than three dozen investigators from universities, government agencies,
and private firms in the United States and India are carrying out field
studies in more than half a dozen countries where tsunami and earthquake
impacts have destroyed countless communities and taken the lives of more
than 150,000 people.
“There
are many lessons to be learned from this extraordinary event,” Iwan
said. “These range from science and engineering to societal impact
and public policy. We must improve our understanding of such events so
that we can prevent such catastrophes from happening in the future.”
Iwan will
be working with leading seismologists, tsunami experts, civil and structural
engineers, lifeline engineers, and social and policy scientists to compile
a comprehensive picture of the events and to extract lessons for research
and practice in the United States and other countries at risk. Reports
will be contributed by members of the reconnaissance teams as well as
from experts in each of the affected countries.
Iwan was
cochair of the United States delegation to the closing of the International
Decade on Natural Disaster Reduction. He is the recipient of the Nathan
M. Newmark Medal for contributions to dynamic analysis of structures and
the Alfred E. Alquist Award for achievement in earthquake safety.
The Earthquake
Engineering Research Institute is a multidisciplinary, national, nonprofit,
technical society. EERI seeks to improve our understanding of the impact
of earthquakes on the physical, social, economic, political, and cultural
environment and to advocate for comprehensive and realistic measures to
reduce the harmful impacts of earthquakes.
For over
30 years, EERI has conducted the Learning From Earthquakes Program with
funding from the National Science Foundation, in an effort to capture
lessons from significant earthquakes throughout the world.
•
